June 2, 2014 — The Spanish government issued a sharp message to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) after the country’s fishing fleets reported having completed their 2,540 metric ton quota in under 48 hours — a record time.
The fishing revealed abundant stocks, Balfego’s general director Juan Serrano told Undercurrent News on Friday. The company, one of Europe’s largest bluefin tuna catchers, has had to purchase stocks from third party fleets to meet its clients’ needs.
“We expect to continue seeing swarms of tuna crossing the Mediterranean until late in June,” said Serrano, speaking from Barcelona.
“The state of the species’ stock is great, as the record, historic time in which quotas have been fished shows.”
Balfego, based in Catalonia, posted €32.4 million in sales last year, slightly lower than 2012′s €35.4m, but almost doubled net profits to €0.74m.
Serrano said the company has bought an additional 450t of catches from the Basque fleet and another 100t from Andalusian longliners to meet its customers’ needs.